Henry Wakefield

Henry "Hank" Wakefield was a general of the US Army during World War II, serving as the executive officer of the US 19th Armored Division.

Biography
Henry Wakefield was originally a training commander of the US Army, training men at Fort Hood. During World War II, he butted heads with General George S. Patton at the General Staff College over doctrinal points - Wakefield had his own insights into tank warfare. When Patton became operational commander in North Africa, any chance Wakefield had of getting an armored command of his own evaporated. In 1944 he was made the XO of the US 19th Armored Division under Major-General Jack King, and when it was activated, he was sent over with Colonels James Pulaski and Bob Jackson to Normandy in France to fight Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht. Wakefield itched for a combat command, and he was worried that the Operation Valkyrie bomb plot on Adolf Hitler's life could end the war before he could enter it. General Omar Bradley had him attack the German city of Avranches behind enemy lines during Operation Cobra, as it controlled many roads to the rest of Brittany.